In slaughterhouses and abattoirs the butchering of animals is highly industrialized and during the process the animals or part of the animals are transported for example from storage to different stages where the actual cutting of the animals into the desired sections/pieces takes place. During this process, the parts of the animals or lumps of meat are transported on conveyor belts.
These conveyor belts are often 60 cm wide or more so that the entire carcass of an animal or parts thereof will fit onto the conveyor belt. At the same time it is desirable to butcher the animals directly on the conveyor belt as they pass the workstation. For this purpose specialized conveyor belts have been developed where the surface is relatively flush and the independent chain links are assembled in such a manner that the gaps and slices between each link are minimized.
Furthermore, in order to reduce the costs of manufacturing the chain links which make up a conveyor belt, the chain links are often made in an size where, in order to assemble a conveyor belt that is 60 cm or more wide, a number of chain links in the width direction of the conveyor belt is needed. The conveyor belt is hereby assembled by a number of chain links, for example 7 or 8, making up the entire width of the belt and the adjacent row of chain links is assembled in a staggered manner such that a brick laying pattern is constructed.
The chain links are usually assembled by providing protruding eye parts in both the front and rear end of each chain link, such that an eye part alternates with a recess substantially corresponding in size to the width of the eye part. Furthermore, the eye parts are offset on the rear side in relation to the eye parts on the front side of each chain link.
Furthermore, approximately in the middle of each eye part in a transverse direction in relation to the traveling direction of the conveyor belt, an aperture is provided through all the eye parts in each chain link. By overlapping the eye parts including the apertures in a rear side of one chain link with the eye parts and apertures of an adjacent chain link's front edge, a through going aperture across the width of the conveyor belt is achieved. A pin is thereafter inserted through all the apertures whereby the two chain links become coupled in a hinge like manner.
In the food producing industry and especially in slaughterhouses and abattoirs the hygienic requirements are very strict in order not to contaminate the fresh meat being produced in such places. It is, therefore, necessary that a high degree of cleaning of the conveyor belt is achieved. In order to facilitate this the eye parts and pin members of the conveyor belt are exposed in such a manner that they can be cleaned with high pressure water, steam or the like.
In other applications the conveyor belt is partly disassembled and lowered into chemical rinsing baths, for example over night, in order to assure that no contamination from bacterial growth in the chain link will cause contamination of the meat to be processed on the conveyor belt.
In order to be able to cut the meat directly on the conveyor belt, the top surface of each chain link has a certain size in the transport direction such that a level and stable work surface is provided. In order for this surface to be sufficiently strong in order to withstand the extra force exerted on the surface due to the working of the meat, a supporting ridge is sometimes provided on the underside for supporting the conveyor belt on the conveyor construction.
Some of the problems with the prior art conveyor belts as discussed above is the fact that in the conveyor belt's width direction the conveyor belt is made up of a number of independent chain links. Between each chain link there will be a gap wherein cut off meat particles and other substances will be able to accumulate. Furthermore, these gaps between the independent chain links are also difficult to rinse in that they usually are very narrow, which makes it difficult for high pressure water jets to flush everything away in that the high pressure source has to be directed perfectly parallel to the slit in order to be able to penetrate the slit and achieve a cleaning action of said slit.
Another disadvantage with the assembly of the conveyor belt from a number of chain links in the width direction is that a number of chain link end sections are comprised in such a conveyor belt. When a part of an animal to be butchered is transported from one conveyor belt onto another conveyor belt, the meat lump will often fall from one conveyor belt to the next conveyor belt. During this fall, on impact with the lower lying conveyor belt it will exert a comparatively high force on the lower lying conveyor belt. Often the first point of impact for such a lump of meat will be a corner of one of the many chain links. Due to the relatively fragile construction of the free corners of the chain links, these will often break off. These loose plastic chips afterwards present the danger of ending up in the finished meat product, and furthermore the damage of the chain link needs to be repaired. The same problem can arise due to the working process of the butchers working along the conveyor belt in that during their work routines they might accidentally hit the conveyor belt with a tool such that a corner breaks off.
Furthermore, as the butchers cut the meat directly on the belt, the knives can get stuck in the gaps between the chain links. This gives rise to two main problems. The knife can be pulled out of the hand of the butcher, and due to the resilient nature of the blade it might loosen itself from the belt and fly off with the risk of injuring someone. Alternatively, when the knife becomes stuck in the gap a part of it might break off thereby give rise to the danger that the part ends up in the finished products. If it is detected, the conveyor belt and thereby the entire production must be stopped while the knife or part of the blade is recovered.